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Young Americans Have Highest Death Rate Among High-Income Countries

A new study of adolescent health around the globe found the United States had the highest mortality rate for people ages 10 to 24 of any high-income country in the world.

The American kids were also No. 1 in pot-smoking, moving toward the top spot in boozing — all while still hitting the gym harder than their contemporaries in other wealthy nations.

Death on the wrong end of a gun or any other violent method is up to 20 times more likely in the U.S. than the other 27 wealthy nations, according to findings reported in The Lancet, a British medical journal.

Traffic accidents combined with the violent deaths boosted the U.S. to its undesired position atop the mortality charts, The Lancet wrote in a series of articles this week.

“The drinking patterns of USA adolescents are catching up with those in other [high-income countries],” The Lancet reported. One reason the American numbers are disturbing: Most of the domestic binge drinkers are too young to drink legally. While the U.S. drinking age is 21, the number is as low as 16 in other nations.

The numbers also indicated that U.S. kids ages 13-15 exercised more than their global counterparts in high-income countries. The boys were No. 1 and the girls No. 2 in the rankings.